Gender roles—and the dissatisfaction they produce—play a prominent role in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. The dynamics of Nora and Torvald’s relationship reflect the Victorian belief that men should be the dominant partners in marriage. Torvald controls the money for the household, and he constantly condescends to Nora. He believes that he is her superior. Torvald’s paternalistic behavior reflects that of Nora’s father, who also treated Nora as an intellectual inferior. Though Nora is at first content to be a spoiled, submissive housewife, by the end of the play she asserts her independence and leaves her husband. Furthermore, Nora insists that the laws surrounding a woman’s ability to take out a loan are wrong. Through Nora’s opinions and actions, Ibsen criticizes the inequitable Victorian society that restricts women from obtaining true independence from the men in their lives.

Mrs. Linde’s story moves in the opposite direction of Nora’s. Rather than seeking out independence, Mrs. Linde prepares to marry again, because she wants to care for someone again. Mrs. Linde’s willingly conforms to the gender roles that Nora hopes to escape. At first glance, this works against the thematic message of the play. However, Mrs. Linde’s circumstances and experiences differ from Nora’s. Mrs. Linde already knows what it is like to be independent. She had to work hard after her husband’s death just to care for herself. Additionally, she has already seen Krogstad at his worst. Her marriage to Krogstad will have no illusions or “playtime.” Instead, Mrs. Linde is making an informed, pragmatic choice to marry a man whom she respects and who respects her in turn.

When A Doll’s House first premiered, it was accused of being “anti-marriage.” Mrs. Linde’s story suggests otherwise. The ending of the play suggests that a “true wedlock” can only exist between equals who see one another clearly and equitably. While Nora and Torvald realize that their marriage is based on illusions, Krogstad and Mrs. Linde enter into a mutually beneficial and desirable partnership. Ultimately, Ibsen seems to suggest that women ought to be encouraged to think and live independently. If women were able to support themselves without the aid of men, the institution of marriage would cease to be an instrument of oppression. Thus, marriage would reflect a genuine partnership, as it does for Mrs. Linde and Krogstad.